Happy Valentine’s day

Andrea Bellamy |

Crocuses aren’t usually the flower that immediately springs to mind when I think of Valentine’s Day. But according to the Royal Horticultural Society, Crocus sativus, the saffron crocus, is also known as St. Valentine’s Rose. I looked it up, and found this here:

Crocuses flower around Valentine’s Day. Krokos was the Greek name for the saffron crocus. It was considered to be an aphrodisiac. The legend about its origin is of Zeus and Hera making love so passionately that the heat of their ardor made the bank on which they lay burst open with crocuses.

Steamy! I wonder if that myth was the originator of the bed-of-scattered-rose-petals romantic stereotype commonly seen in Hollywood movies.

Regardless, happy valentine’s day, readers! May we all spread a little love around today. The world could certainly use some.